Easy White Bean Spread, for a Celebration Lunch with Family

A few weeks ago I got an email from Renee from Kitchen Conundrum that I had won a copy of Cristina Ferrare's Big Bowl of Love cookbook.  Yahoo!  To enter her contest, she had asked readers to leave a comment about a recipe they love to make at home for their friends and family.  Here is what I said: 

I love making classic chocolate chip cookies – everyone always loves them and fresh out of the oven there is nothing better. I would love to win this cookbook for my mom!  **

Her question to readers was utterly perfect considering the "Big Bowl of Love" theme of Cristina Ferrare's new cookbook - the entire cookbook is devoted to simple, delicious recipes that you can share with family and friends.  Cristina describes each of the recipes in such a warm and genuine tone that it just makes you want to be home.  So naturally, her book and recipes made me think of my mom and how much she would love this cookbook.  Of course, when I actually won it I had a few self-indulgent moments paging through it and some more self-indulgent thoughts about keeping it, but in the end I gave it to my mom as a Mother's Day present; I knew she would appreciate it more than I would and it seemed like the perfect gift for her.  

But to make the gift even more perfect, I escaped home for two short days to surprise her and give it to her in person.  I combined a celebration of Mother's Day, my father's birthday, and my grandfather's 90th birthday (can you believe it!  Ninety years!) into a few whirlwind hours back in Ohio, and every moment of my time at home was precious and heart-warming.  Of course, we celebrated with birthday cakes and special dinners and lots of hugs and kisses, but one of the best times was a small, relaxing celebration lunch with my parents in our own backyard.  

I love my parents' antique-style knives.  I also love my mom's lilacs.

I set everything up so we could have a lunch that would be elegant enough to be 'special' but nothing that we would have to fuss over.  Life has been hectic for my parents (and for me) and I think we all really cherished time where we could relax, and just enjoy the pleasure of simple conversation and time spent together.  

Spiced Tofu Katsu

This past weekend my friend Missy flew down from San Francisco to visit me.  Missy and I have been friends since the very first minute of the very first day of high school, and though our friendship has ebbed and flowed over the years, it always remains a constant undercurrent in my life.  If I am feeling down or just need a good laugh, her smile is infectious and she has vast stores of hilarious comments at the ready.  (She knows I love to hear, "Petrie do not feel sad.  Many things do not fly...Rocks, trees, sticks, Spike...")  We also share all our happy moments with each other and she is my most loyal friend, and such a huge part of my past and my present.  No matter what we are doing, there will always be laughter and fun...and often cheese (of course with wine).  Time with her always recharges my happy batteries.

When she was here this past weekend, we had a long laundry list of things we wanted to do, and naturally, we only got around to about a fourth of them.  Eh, it happens.  Of course, food and eating featured predominantly on the list, but we also managed to sneak in a trip to beautiful Torrey Pines Beach.  Before I tell you about the awesome Spiced Tofu Katsu that we made, I thought I would share a few photos.           

Late afternoon Torrey Pines sun.

Footsteps in the sand.

Basking in the glow of the sun, and watching the pelicans overhead.

Homemade Hummus is for Sharing

Some people are fanatical about their hummus.  On any given day, if you open their refrigerator you will find (at the very least) one round tub of hummus.  Now they may have a favorite brand or any old hummus might do, but there must be hummus.  Me?  I go through phases where hummus and I are attached at the hip, and then there are times I even forget that this versatile dip is in existence.  But when I make this homemade version?  It is always on my mind and I really can't stop eating it, which is good, because this recipe makes a lot of hummus.    

Eating hummus is a fantastic way to get protein, since the smooth, creamy facade disguises a base that is pure bean.  Call it garbanzo or call it chick pea, it will always be a bean and an easy, healthy, and quick way to load up on protein.  If you have resolutions for eating well in the new year, hummus is a fantastic choice.  As I mentioned the beans provide a significant source of protein and also fiber, and hummus is also high in Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, and iron.  It is extremely versatile and can be served as a dip with vegetables or flatbread; take it in your lunch with some celery, cucumbers, or carrots, or serve it as part of a more traditional Mediterranean mezze platter.  Better yet, spread it on bread with some turkey, lettuce, and tomato, and you have a delicious sandwich for lunch (at least I thought it was delicious, that is what I ate for lunch today!).  

Now here is the thing: I would encourage you to make your own hummus at home for two reasons.  First, purchasing tub after tub of hummus can get pricey, and don't we all have better things we would like to spend our money on?  You can buy a bag of chick peas for about $2.  (I like Ziyad brand.  They are beautiful.)  This will make the equivalent of about 8 small containers of hummus, not kidding.  Second, you should make your own hummus because it will ultimately be more healthy.  There are no preservatives, but what I like most is that you can control the fat.  Some store-bought hummus is advertised to consumers as 'healthy' but really harbors an shocking amount of fat.  Homemade hummus has fat too, in the form of olive oil, but when you make it yourself you can control it.  

So let me tell you how to make homemade hummus.  You can eat it all yourself or share it with friends.  I would encourage sharing. 

A Celebration of Food and Friends, and Chocolate Cranberry Layer Cake

Did you hear the news?  Well, if you are late to the party (and I don't mean the actual party where we had this amazing cake), then I can let you know right away that I am officially out of Project Food Blog.  Yes, after more than three months of hard work and nine rounds of competition, my run has come to an end.  I would be flat out lying if I said I wasn't disappointed (there was $10,000 and title of food blog star at stake!), and when I heard the news on Friday, I did get a little emotional.  But, here's the thing: I surprised even myself when I realized I wasn't feeling sad about actually being eliminated.  There were no tears, I didn't have a breakdown, and I didn't feel like life was falling apart.**  And here is why: I am still a winner. Participating in this contest has brought only good things to both my life and this blog.  I thought to myself, "Ok, well, I am just going to go back to what I was doing before.  Only better."   

And then almost immediately, my phone started ringing, my email inbox filled up, and messages came flooding through on Twitter; new blogger friends, loyal readers, and real-life family and friends from near and far were all contacting me to share their feelings with me, to tell me that they were proud of me, or just to let me know that they care and still think this blog is awesome.  And that was when I started feeling a sort of aching in my chest that was just overwhelming.  It was as if the huge support I had received throughout this process was all being distilled into one perfect crystalline moment.  I knew I had given it my all, I had put my heart into each and every moment of this contest, and I hadn't let anyone down; all the way through to the end, YOU, my loyal readers and friends have supported and encouraged me every step of the way.  There really are not sufficient words to tell you just how much that means to me, so I will just offer you a simple and giant 

THANK YOU!      

I started out in the contest thinking that if I made it to the second round, it would be amazing (not kidding, I really said this to all of my friends) and then somehow I managed to find myself in the ninth round with only 11 other phenomenal bloggers left.  (I still sometimes find this unbelievable.)  At that point, I took a good hard look at my blog, and realized that it had undergone an incredible transformation into almost exactly what I had hoped it would be when I started it earlier this year: a place for friends to gather and share in the beauty and goodness of great food and great people.  Because Project Food Blog not only challenged me to grow and make The Cilantropist a better place, but it also brought together a like-minded community of people who support each other and revel in deliciousness.  I got to meet and be inspired by so many talented bloggers, and most importantly for me, I got to experience everything with constant encouragement from family and friends.

So, at the end of the day, even though I lost the competition, I think I have more than enough reasons to celebrate. I especially wanted to show those nearest and dearest to me how much I appreciated all their help... and so naturally I showered them with food.